Trials of Life
by BensidySVU
Summary: Olivia and Brian are going through the most interesting and difficult things life has to offer all at once. A pregnancy, parenthood, job shifts, job changes, trying to develop their relationship and of course, all of life's surprises. Multi Chapter
1. Chapter 1

Olivia walked through the door of the dim apartment. She set her keys in the dish and looked around. It appeared as if Brian weren't home.

"As usual" she thought. Olivia waddled to her bedroom taking off her shoes and coat before she went. She was 34 weeks pregnant, and decided she would work until her due date, but now she was not so sure. As if the stress didn't get to her enough when she wasn't pregnant, this was hell. She was to acting CO of SVU, not only was she dealing with a typical CO's workload, she was trying to take control of Amanda and Nick's personal problems, that were obviously beginning to affect their work performance. But it seemed like the more she tried to help, the more they pushed her away. And on top of all of this she was dealing with Brian's job change, and preparing for their new baby. She was on her feet so often that they were swollen to the point where they hurt. She let out a frustrated sigh as she opened the door to her bedroom, but the sigh was quickly replaced with a happy smile.

She was met with the sight of Brian resting on the bed, on his back reading one of her latest parenting magazine's. He was so absorbed in the article he was reading he didn't even hear Olivia walk in.

"Studying up for the baby, huh?" she remarked as she rested her heavy, and tired body on the edge of the bed.

Brian, embarrassed, tossed the magazine to the side of the bed, and quickly sat up. "Hey baby," he pecks her lips "when did you get it?"

"Just now" she stretches her sore back and cringes when she hears it crack, "how was your day?"

"Better than yours, I can see" he notes her puffy, red eyes. He cups her face "You want to talk about it?"

Olivia weakly smiles at him "In a minute, grab my pajamas please"

He gets off the bed and walks over to the dresser grabbing her one of his extra large nightshirts and one of her pajamas with an extra stretchy elastic. Olivia had gotten pretty big during the course of her pregnancy and she wasn't done growing. And Olivia had the stretch marks to prove it. He walks over and helps her out of her work clothes and in her pajamas. He helps her rest up on her side of the bed.

"You need anything babe? Water? Something to eat?" Brian asks pacing around the room, concerned about his girlfriend's current condition.

Olivia props herself up with pillows against the headboard, "No, I'm fine. Come here" she pats the empty side of the bed next to her.

Brian begins to walk over to the bed but stops right at the end. He notices her extremely swollen feet.

"Liv, you're feet are getting really swollen, remember the doctor said you got to rest as much as you can" Brian crawled onto the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"You want me to rub them for you?"

"No massage will relieve the pain that I'm feeling in my feet, Bri"

And that was the truth. Even now her feet were still pulsating from the pain of walking around all day.

"I'll call your doctor tomorrow" he pushes hair out of her face "so tell me why you were crying" he asked gently, his voice filled with genuine concern.

Her eyes began to fill up with tears as she began to remember the events that occurred that day. She would never cry over a bad day at work in the past, but the influx of her hormones due to carrying her child, caused her to be a bit more emotional.

"It's just so stressful!" she lets out in one breath "I tell someone to do one thing, they run off and do the other. I tell someone to go out and do something they screw it up! I'm getting calls from an undercover cop saying that Amanda was at an illegal gambling club, possibly jeopardizing the already tarnished name of SVU! And I'm getting calls from Nick's wife, saying he's damn near stalking her. Those two are out of control! It feels like Fin is the only sane one left, because I'm losing my mind too! I mean I got enough on my plate being acting CO, and getting ready for my own baby to get here, I just can't deal with them"

Brian grabbed some tissue from the nightstand next to him and handed them to Olivia who had a few stray tears running down her face. He ran his fingers through her hair.

"I'm so sorry that you have to deal with that Liv, I really am" he carefully decides what to say next "but that's why I think you should go on maternity leave"

"Maternity leave! Brian are you kidding me? That place is hanging by a thread, I'm the only thing keeping it together! I can't go on leave, not now"

"But Olivia, while you're keeping them together, you're falling apart"

They both fell silent as Olivia let the statement sink in. It was true, her pregnancy was almost over and she hadn't been able to fully enjoy it, besides a few rare occasions, where Brian had made her feel like a queen.

Her hand rests on her belly, absentmindedly rubbing her hand over her skin stretched tight as a drum. She contemplates what to say next.

"Maybe you're right, I'll think about it"

"Just remember, you're taking care of not just you, but our baby" he rests his hand on her belly.

Olivia smiles towards him and squeezes the hand that rests on her belly.

Brian and Olivia had decided not to find out the sex of the baby.

"With so many negative surprises in this world, I'd rather have a positive one for a change" Olivia smiled when she declined the sonographers offer of knowing the baby's gender.

"It's getting pretty late, Brian, I'm exhausted, I'm gonna go to bed"

"You sure you don't want me to massage your back?" Brian, had become a massage expert since Olivia became heavily pregnant. The excess weight caused her pain and swelling, but Brian would slowly rub the tender areas of her body until the pain dwindled.

"I'm sure, but I'll take a raincheck, how about tomorrow when I get home from work?"

"You got it"

Brian and Olivia shared a goodnight kiss, and he made sure Olivia got tucked into a comfortable position, turned off the lights, spooned together, then drifted off into a much needed sleep.

A/N: Hi! I hope you guys enjoy so far, this is my first multi chapter SVU fic, so please review and let me know how it is. I'll try to post chapter two as soon as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Olivia woke up the next morning in absolute agony. Her back was in a non-stop pain cycle, her feet still throbbing from the day before, and she could feel nausea beginning to take over her body. Luckily, Brian had set out some saltines for her to settle her stomach, which did slightly help.

Olivia laid in bed for an extra hour before getting out of bed and waddling in the kitchen, and attempting to put something on her stomach, to sooth the baby that was kicking non-stop within her womb.

"Morning" Brian said as he set a mug of tea in front of her as she sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Morning" Olivia mumbled, as she sat. Her face was pale and her short hair was messy and disheveled.

Brian walked over to her and rested his large hand on the small of her back "Are you going into work today?"

Olivia dropped her hand to her belly, "I have to, we have four open cases Bri"

"Liv, you need rest, I'm sure they'll do fine without you"

Olivia whipped her head towards Brian and gave him a death glare.

Brian, not entirely sure what he did wrong, apologized immediately. "Sorry babe, I didn't mean it like that, but remember what we were saying last night? How it's not just you that you're taking care of anymore? You're taking care of our baby too"

Olivia rubbed her tired eyes, she was up for less than ten minutes and she was already stressing.

"I know Brian, just give me a little more ti-"

Brian cut her off, "Time? Olivia you're due in less than two months, you gotta take it easy"

Brian was extremely worried about her current physical and emotional state. With all the stress that she was going through between being CO of SVU, still dealing with her recovery from William Lewis, and preparing for their first child, she had enough on her plate. On top of all this, she was heavily pregnant, which left her with stretch marks (that she claimed she will never get rid of), her swollen feet, and aching back, she needed to slow down.

"Brian, I'm thinking about taking an early leave at the end of the month, just let me go in and tie up all of my loose ends before I go" Olivia stated, clearly getting annoyed with her boyfriend's overprotective behavior. She knew his main concern was her physical state and the baby, but that didn't stop her from getting irritated.

"Okay, babe" he says quietly, then presses a kiss to her temple "I'm gonna start heading into work, do you want me to wait for you? Give you a ride?"

She takes a sip of her tea "No thanks, I'll be okay"

He hesitates, but gives her one more kiss and a goodbye before heading out to begin his day at his latest job. After proving himself in IAB, he was moved to homicide. The pay was less than decent especially with his family expanding, but it was better than trying to have a newborn on a uni's salary.

"Goodluck at work today" she calls out, just as he is heading out the door.

He turns around, facing her and smiling "Thank you"

After he walked out the door, Olivia turned back in her seat and slowly sipped her tea, deciding that she probably would be late to work today.

x

Olivia walked into what looked like a warzone. Amanda and Nick were fumbling around trying to pass papers and forms around, in an attempt to get them done. Meanwhile, Fin was as cool as a cucumber finishing up the last of his paperwork.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked as she approached the desks.

Nick and Amanda jumped a bit, while Fin kept his cool.

"Hey boss" he hands her a stack of papers.

"Great," she takes them in her hands "Amaro, Rollins?" she asks with her hand open.

"Uh, we're workin' on it" Nick says rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well work faster, I need these filled out by the end of the day" she began to walk to her office.

Nick stood up and followed her in, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Olivia, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling pregnant. What do you need?" she asked, taking in the tone of voice, knowing he had something important to say.

"Listen, I know I'm way behind in my workload, but you know I'm having problems with Maria, trying to see Zara. She's my daughter, I want to see her as much as possible, you'll understand soon, with your little one on the way." he motions toward her growing belly.

He was tugging at her heart string at the mention of her unborn child. She thought of the family that would be complete very soon.

Her voice softens from before "It's alright Nick, I got it. I'll give you some leniency"

He smiles at her "Thank you" he turns to leave her office.

Just as Nick leaves a woman walks in and drops a manila folder on her desk. It was SVU's fifth and newest case.

x

Olivia spent most of the day on her feet, breaking her doctor's orders of riding the desk and went out and about to interview suspects for all of their cases. They were so short staffed that she had no choice.

After a long day, she was looking forward to a foot rub, dinner with Brian, and some rest.

"Night guys" she said she walked past her squad.

"Night Olivia, take care of yourself" Amanda said.

The squad had also taken notice of Olivia pushing herself a bit too hard during her last few months of her pregnancy. They would have been concerned if she weren't pregnant, but the fact that she was made them even more unsettled about her stress level.

x

Olivia walked into the apartment and was overwhelmed by the smell of a delicious chicken stir fry and peppers. Brian was never much of a cook, but he was learning (with the help of his mother and sister over FaceTime) how to cook proper meals for Olivia, since she was now too big to maneuver around their extremely small kitchen. She was only able to prepare small, and typically non-nutritious meals at this point in her pregnancy.

"Hey" Brian called over his shoulder, still mixing the food together in the pan.

Olivia walked over to where Brian was standing in the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her belly not allowing much close contact.

"Hey, Brian" she says softly.

He notices the change in her voice "You okay? Everything good at work?"

"Everything is fine"

He turns around to face her, his hand rests on her belly. "You sure?"

"Positive, we always talk about my job, you just started yours a few weeks ago, I never get to hear about it. I want to know about what's going on with you too, Bri"

He kisses her lightly "I'll tell you about it over dinner okay?"

"Sounds like a plan"

Olivia went to go change into sweats and an oversized t-shirt. She decided to go barefoot, exposing her puffy feet.

Brian had set two plates out for them to eat at the breakfast bar. With Brian being out of IAB they could talk about their days freely again, like a normal couple. Brian told Olivia about his new job, and they discussed their impending parenthood.

After they finished eating, Olivia, at her insistence, helped clear away the dishes. They soon found themselves on the couch. Brian at one end, rubbing her feet.

Brian had been careful bringing this subject up, knowing that Olivia gets irritated everytime he does, but he knew he had to.

"So have you made a decision? About leave?"

She heavily sighed "Yeah I did"

"And?" he asked with hope

"I'm going on leave after next week"

"Good" he was happy that she would be at home relaxing.

"I figured we could tell the squad at the police gala next week"

"You still wanna go to that thing?" Brian disliked the black tie events hosted by the NYPD.

"Yeah, I do, it will be a good time to tell them"

"I guess" he said with some reluctance.

"We'll talk" Olivia said, already drifting off to sleep.

A/N: Well that was Chapter Two. More reviews equals more motivation to update. Also, you can follow/leave feedback on my Twitter BensidySVU


	3. Chapter 3

Olivia walked from her and Brian's bedroom to the couch. She carefully sat down cautiously sat down, not wanting to ruin her black dress. It was a simple black formal maxi dress. It wasn't the fanciest dress she owned, but everything else she owned didn't quite fit. She was 36 weeks pregnant, tired, and sore. But she still felt obligated to go to the police gala.

"Hey" Brian walked behind the couch and kissed the back of her head "you feelin' okay?"

"Could be worse" she responded.

She slipped on a pair of plain black, low heeled formal shoes. Her swollen feet spilled over the sides, but these were the only formal shoes that she could still wear comfortably, and still fit.

Olivia turned her body slightly and saw Brian and was filled with a mixture of pure love and envy. Brian had his most formal suit, he was clean, cut and shaven.

"You look great" she stood up and smiled, then fixed the lapels on his suit.

"You don't look half bad yourself" he grins

She gives him a half smile. Brian feels guilt creeping into his body, he knew she felt uncomfortable being so heavily pregnant. She felt fat, and she was thinking that she would never get her pre-baby body back.

Brian cupped her face and pulled her in as closely as her belly allowed "You're beautiful, Olivia" he leaned in and closed the small space in between them, locking lips and sharing a sweet kiss.

Brian let his hand rest on the side of her large belly, feeling his child kick within Olivia's womb. He pulled his lips away. Brian wasn't always a affectionate person, that was until he and Olivia got together. She was the one who brought out the sweet, caring, and sentimental side of him. No other woman had ever done that. But then again, no other woman was Olivia, and no other woman was carrying his beautiful child.

He pulled her in for one more for sweet, short kiss before taking a look at the kitchen clock. The bright green digital numbers were telling him that they were running late.

"You ready to go, babe?"

Olivia ran both of her hands over her stomach "Yeah, I guess"

"You still wanna go to this thing?"

"Do I have a choice?" she slightly groaned as she cracked her aching back.

"C'mon, lets go get this over with" he rests his hand on the small of her back and leads her to the door.

xxx

Brian and Olivia arrived at the gala, and immediately spotted Amanda, Nick and Fin. Brian and Olivia had their arms linked together, partially to support Olivia.

"Hey Liv," Fin stood up and pulled a chair out for her to sit down in.

Brian carefully sat her down in the seat and pushed the chair in for her. He then took a seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Nick watched Brian as if he were a rabid dog waiting to attack. Him and Brian had already exchanged hostile words before he and Olivia were together, but now they were at each others necks constantly. Brian had thought that Nick was trying to get too involved in he and Olivia's personal life. Sure he may have had previous experience with pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood, but did he have to rub it in Brian's face?

Brian caught Nick staring at him and gave him a nasty glare. Olivia was too wrapped up in a conversation with Fin and Amanda to notice to growing tension between Nick and Brian.

Brian decided to break the growing stress between him and Nick and brought the rest of the squad into the conversation.

"So what's the plan for tonight? Dinner? Speeches? Then we go?"

"Well someone doesn't want to be here" Amanda snorted

"Never liked these things" Brian slightly turned his head away. Feeling Nick's eyes bore holes into his head, he quickly changed the subject "can we get some drinks going or something?"

"Thought you'd never ask" Fin said as he flagged down a waiter and began ordering drinks for everyone, and water for Olivia.

Olivia had soon noticed the tension that was building between Brian and Nick, and placed her hand on Brian's thigh and squeezed. She gave him a knowing look, and asked with her eyes for them to be pleasant with one another. Just for tonight.

Brian had picked up on her signal and nodded his head.

She smiled and rubbed his leg, then they both rejoined the conversation.

xxx

A few hours had passed since they all had got there, and the night was coming to a close. The police commissioners had given their speeches, dinner was served, and Brian even got Olivia on the dance floor, for a slow song of course.

But she had delayed telling the squad that she would be going on her maternity leave early, until now. They room was beginning to empty and their table was beginning to pack up their things and head home.

Olivia was resting back in her chair, her hands on her belly. "Guys before you go, I have an announcement".

They all turned their attention towards Olivia.

"What's up Liv?" Nick asked with concern

She sighed, not exactly sure how to continue "I, uh, am leaving. Go on maternity leave early"

They all stood shocked for a while. Amanda was the first to speak.

"So who's gonna take your place while you're gone?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders "You guys will see on Monday"

Fin, Amanda, and Nick all exchanged nervous looks. They thought it would be a newbie, the blind leading the blind.

"Well just as long as you're taking care of yourself, Liv" Fin smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Thanks Fin"

"We'll visit," Nick said.

Brian shot him a glare that said _No you're not_.

But Olivia gave him a firm look.

"You guys are welcome anytime" Brian corrected himself, looking directly at Nick.

"Goodluck Liv, can't wait to meet the baby"

"Thanks Amanda,"

"We better get going" Brian said as he held out his hand to help Olivia up "we'll see you guys later"

They exchanged their final goodbyes and they all began to head home.

xxx

"Well that wasn't too painful" Brian said as they walked through the door of their apartment.

"Did you really have to behave that way with Nick?"

"Oh c'mon Liv…"

"Brian, please, I know you guys don't like each other, but your my boyfriend, and he's my partner, my friend. It'd be nice if everyone got along"

"I'm sorry babe but-"

Olivia cut him off "If you act mature, he'll follow your lead. It's like monkey see, monkey do" she smirked

Brian pulled her close, "Okay babe, I'm sorry, I'll try harder"

"Good" she pulled on his tie "Now take me to the bed and ravish me" she kissed him hard.

Brian not surprised by her sexual innuendo, took the bait. She had been considered a "horny pregnant woman". And he gladly complied with her desires.

The rest of the night was passionate, followed by a needed and well deserved sleep. Something they wouldn't be getting in a few short weeks when their baby would be here.

**Please leave reviews here or on Twitter : BensidySVU**


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